The Chronicle's campaign to lift the capital curse for Newcastle United began with the power of prayer.

Last month we brought in Pastor David Falcus to exorcise Newcastle's London demons but the team still couldn't get a win.

We then called on the Toon Army faithful to place their hands on a picture of Alan Shearer. But even with the power of prayer the Toon failed to beat struggling Charlton, drawing 1-1 and skipper Shearer was sent off.

So instead we tried voodoo, tracking down two witch doctors in America to lift the Magpies' four-year capital curse ahead of last week's Worthington Cup quarter final clash at Chelsea.

Before kick-off Papa Jo and Papa Booga performed a voodoo ritual to summon up spirits known as Loa to help the team.

And United bosses flew two stuffed magpies hundreds of miles on a private jet in a bid to break their London curse.

The black and white birds have been linked with Newcastle after the team adopted their black and white striped shirts in 1894.

They were taken from the club museum and on to the plane with the official party, but lost their seats for the return journey, exiled to the club bus with kit bags.

Again our team failed to beat the London jinx, crashing out of the Cup by losing 1-0. United hadn't won in London since November 29, 1997, when they earned a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.

But last night they overturned the curse with the powers of spoon-bender Uri Geller.